OAT Practice
th
5 Grade Science
Physical
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An air hose
extends above and
below the surface
of the water.
1) Which statement explains why the
air hose looks broken at the
surface of the water?
A.Light is refracted as it moves from
air to water.
B. Light is reflected as it moves from
air to water.
C. Light is absorbed as it moves
from air to water.
D. Light is destroyed as it moves
from air to water.
1) Which statement explains why the air hose looks broken
at the surface of the water?
A. Light is refracted as it moves from air to water.
This is the correct answer.
Light that moves from air to water is bent if it enters the
water at an angle. The bending of the light as it travels
from one material through a different material is called
refraction. This makes the tube look bent.
B. Light is reflected as it moves from air to water.
If a student chooses B, he or she may be thinking of
reflection instead of refraction. Reflection takes place
when light travels in one direction through a material,
reflects (bounces off a surface) and travels back through
the same material in the same direction. Refraction takes
place when light travels through one material to a new
material and changes direction as it travels through the
new material.
C. Light is absorbed as it moves from air to water.
If a student chooses C, he or she may be confusing
refraction with absorption. If a lot of light energy is
absorbed by the water, images in the fish tank look
blurred. But absorption would not cause the air hose to
look bent.
D. Light is destroyed as it moves from air to water.
If a student chooses D, he or she may think that as light
enters a new material it is destroyed. Energy cannot be
created or destroyed.
Sharpening a pencil and tearing
paper are examples of physical
changes.
2) Which statement describes why
these are physical changes?
A.There is a change in how the
objects are used.
B. There is a change in the
appearance of the objects.
C. There is a change in the materials
from which the objects are made.
D.There is a change in both the
appearance of the objects and the
materials from which they are
made.
2) Sharpening a pencil and tearing paper are examples of
physical changes. Which statement describes why these
are physical changes?
A. There is a change in how the objects are used.
If a student chooses A, he or she may think that changing
how an object is used is the same as changing the physical
properties of an object. However, how an object is used is
not a physical property.
B. There is a change in the appearance of the objects.
This is the correct answer.
In a physical change, physical properties such as the size
and/or shape of an object may change. The material that
the object is made of stays the same. When a chemical
change happens, a material’s composition (what it is made
of) is changed and a new material is made.
C. There is a change in the materials from which the objects
are made.
If a student chooses C, he or she may be thinking of the
characteristics of a chemical change, not a physical change
only. A chemical change happens when material is
changed and a new material is made. Sharpening a pencil
or tearing a paper does not result in the paper or pencil
turning into a new material with different chemical
properties. The change is in the size or shape only.
D. There is a change in both the appearance of the objects and
the materials from which they are made.
Two juice containers are in a cooler. One is
plastic and one is metal. The
metal can feels colder than
the plastic bottle. Students
place a thermometer in each
container. They find that the
juices in the bottle and in the
can are the same temperature.
3) Why does the can feel colder than
the bottle?
A.The metal can holds colder juice
than the plastic bottle.
B. Plastic is a better conductor of
thermal energy than metal.
C. Metal is a better conductor of
thermal energy than plastic.
D.The outside of the metal can is
drier than the plastic bottle.
3) Why does the can feel colder than the bottle?
A. The metal can holds colder juice than the plastic
bottle.
If a student chooses A, he or she may think that
since the metal can feels colder, the juice in the
metal container must be at a lower temperature than
the juice in the plastic bottle. But both the can and
the bottle have the same temperature readings.
B. Plastic is a better conductor of thermal energy than
metal.
If a student chooses B, he or she may know that
one material is a better conductor of thermal energy
(heat) than the other, but may not know which is
better, plastic or metal. Based on this question, the
metal can is the better thermal conductor.
C. Metal is a better conductor of thermal energy
than plastic.
This is the correct answer.
Both juices have the same temperature. The can
will feel cooler than the plastic. The metal will
transfer (move) thermal energy from the child’s
hand more quickly. Metal conducts (transfers)
thermal energy (heat) better than plastic.
D. The outside of the metal can is drier than the plastic
bottle.
A student places a ball on the
ground and kicks it. The ball
moves along the ground.
4)Why does the ball move?
A. The kick decreases the
weight of the ball.
B. The kick applies a contact
force to the ball.
C. The kick decreases the force
of gravity acting on the ball.
D.The kick removes friction
between the ball and the
ground.
4) A student places a ball on the ground and kicks it. The ball
moves along the ground. Why does the ball move?
A. The kick decreases the weight of the ball.
If a student chooses A, he or she may think that the ball
will move only when it weighs less. The information does
not support this conclusion. The ball did not loose weight.
The ball moves when a striking force touches the ball.
B. The kick applies a contact force to the ball.
This is the correct answer.
As the ball sits at rest, only two forces are acting on it: the
force of gravity pulling the ball straight down to Earth and
the ground pushing straight up on the ball. These two
forces balance each other out and keep the ball stationary.
When the force of the kick is applied, the ball will move.
C. The kick decreases the force of gravity acting on the ball.
If a student chooses C, he or she may think that the force
of gravity has to decrease for the ball to move. This is
incorrect. The gravitational force between Earth and the
ball could not be changed by the student kicking the ball
along the ground.
D. The kick removes friction between the ball and the ground.
If a student chooses D, he or she may be incorrectly
thinking that friction can be eliminated by the kick.
Frictional force still acts between the ground and the
rolling ball. While it was not large enough to keep the ball
from starting to roll as it was kicked, friction will
eventually slow and stop the ball rolling.
A student has a glass of water as shown. She takes an
ice cube from the freezer. She puts the ice cube into the
water.
5) Which explains the change that
happens?
A. The ice cube melts because cold flows
out of the ice cube to the water.
B. The ice cube does not melt because
cold flows into the ice cube from the
water.
C. The ice cube melts because thermal
energy transfers to the ice cube from
the water.
D. The ice cube does not melt because
thermal energy transfers from the ice
cube to the water.
5) Which explains the change that happens?
A. The ice cube melts because cold flows out of the ice cube to the
water.
If a student chooses A, he or she may think that cold is a kind of
energy that flows from one substance or thing to another. Cold is
not an energy, so it cannot cause the temperature to change.
B. The ice cube does not melt because cold flows into the ice cube
from the water.
If a student chooses B, he or she may think that the ice cube
attracts cold because the ice cube itself is cold. Ice cubes do not
attract cold and the ice cube does melt as the pictures show.
C. The ice cube melts because thermal energy transfers to the
ice cube from the water.
This is the correct answer.
Thermal energy shows the speed the particles (the small parts
that something is made of) in a material are moving. Particles in
warm materials, like water, move much faster than particles in
something cold, like ice. When water touches ice, the moving
water particles hit the slower ice particles. This causes the ice
molecules to move more. The ice gains thermal energy (heat). So
the water particles lose energy when they transfer their energy to
the slow ice molecules. This causes the water particles to move
with less energy. The thermal energy (heat) and the temperature
of the water go down.
D. The ice cube does not melt because thermal energy transfers
from the ice cube to the water.
If a student chooses D, he or she may think that thermal energy
represents coldness, instead of heat. This is not correct; it is
actually thermal energy that flows (heat) from materials at higher
temperatures to materials at lower temperatures.
A teacher put a beaker of water on a hot
plate. The
beaker is
shown before
and after the
hot plate is
turned on.
6) What is the evidence that
water is changing state?
A. The hot plate is turned on.
B. The temperature increases.
C. The water bubbles and the
steam is visible.
D. The mass of water in the
beaker increases.
6) What is the evidence that water is changing state?
A. The hot plate is turned on.
If a student chooses A, he or she may think that the
source of heat (hot plate) used to change the state of
water is proof that the water is changing state. This
alone is not evidence. Observations of changes from a
liquid to a gas show evidence of a change in state.
B. The temperature increases.
If a student chooses B, he or she may be incorrectly
thinking that water boils as soon as its temperature
goes up. The temperature has to go up to 100 degrees
Celsius for the water to boil and turn into a gas.
C. The water bubbles and the steam is visible.
This is the correct answer.
The steam, rolling water at the surface and bubbles on
the “after” part of the diagram show that the water is
boiling. This is evidence that the water is changing
state from liquid to gas.
D. The mass of water in the beaker increases.
If a student chooses D, he or she may think that the
bubbles cause the mass (the amount of matter an
object has) of the water to go up. But the mass of the
water in the beaker goes down when it starts boiling
because water is entering the air as steam (a gas-like
vapor).
Electric energy flows
through the wire
filament in a light bulb.
The energy flow causes
the wire to glow and
give off light.
7) Which type of energy
produces this light?
A. Sound
B. Gravity
C. Thermal
D. Magnetic
7) Which type of energy produces this light?
A. sound
If a student chooses A, he or she may be incorrectly
thinking that the filament in the light bulb produces
a sound, which causes the bulb to produce light.
B. gravity
If a student chooses B, he or she may know that
gravity acts on all objects with mass, and so that
must be the reason why light is produced in the
bulb. But this is incorrect.
C. thermal
This is the correct answer.
The electric energy does not move easily through
the wire in the light bulb. The wire slows the flow
of electric energy. The thermal energy of the wire
increases (gets hot). When the temperature of the
wire gets very high, it begins to visibly glow
(produce light).
D. magnetic
If a student chooses D, he or she may know that
magnets are used in some kinds of circuits, and so
they think that magnets are the reason why light is
produced in the bulb. But this is incorrect.
The principal’s chair
has wheels. It sits on
her office floor next
to her desk. She
pulls the chair away from her desk.
8)What makes the chair move?
A. the force of gravity on the
chair
B. the force of her pull on the
chair
C. friction between her hand
and the chair
D. friction between the wheels
and the floor
8) What makes the chair move?
A. the force of gravity on the chair
If a student chooses A, he or she may know that
gravity acts on all objects. But the only force that is
moving this chair is the “pulling” force (the
principal is pulling the chair toward her).
B. the force of her pull on the chair
This is the correct answer.
The principal pulls the chair toward herself, and
this makes the chair move in the direction of the
force (pull).
C. friction between her hand and the chair
If a student chooses C, he or she may know that
friction is a force that changes how objects move.
But friction between the principal’s hand and the
chair does not make the chair move.
D. friction between the wheels and the floor
If a student chooses D, he or she may know that
friction is a force that changes how objects move.
Friction, in this choice, is pushing in the opposite
direction, not in the same direction, that the chair is
moving. So friction between the wheels and the
floor does not make the chair move toward the
principal.
Two students want to fine
out what affects the sounds
heard through model
telephones. They investigate
the materials used and the
tightness of the material
connecting the cups.
Their first three setups are
shown. They used the same length of string or wire in each setup.
The boy repeats the same sounds at the same volume for each
setup.
They record results of the
three setups in the table at the
right.
The sound in setup 3 was clearer than the sound in setup 1.
9) Which statement explains why?
A. String creates an echo.
B. String vibrates more than wire.
C. Wire is used for real telephones.
D. Wire transmits sound better than
string.
9) The sound in setup 3 was clearer than the sound in setup
1. Which statement explains why?
A. String creates an echo.
If a student chooses A, he or she may think that a sound
that echoes is clearer because the sound is reflected
(bounced) back to the listener. But sound does not echo
(bounce off the string) as it travels through a string.
B. String vibrates more than wire.
If a student chooses B, he or she may be thinking about
how “bigger” vibration (shaking) or vibrations traveling
farther can help the sound heard by a person to be
louder. But the item does not give evidence that the
sound transmitted by the string was louder or clearer
than the wire.
C. Wire is used for real telephones.
If a student chooses C, he or she may think that the best
thing to do is to try to make the model telephone like a
real phone. This idea is incorrect, because real phones
transmit electricity, not sound energy, through very long
telephone wires.
D. Wire transmits sound better than string.
This is the correct answer.
According to the observations recorded in the table, the
students heard the sound better in setup 3 than in setup
1. This is evidence that model telephones with wire
transmit sound better than string.